Repeating fuse apparatus



March 5, 1940. e. N. LEMMON REPEATING FUSE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 14, 19364 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 6,.N. LEM/10H Wk March 5, 1940. G, LEMMQN2,192,710

REPEATING FUSE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 14, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORGJV. LENMo/v BY rW M ATTORN EY March 5, 1940. G LEMMON 2,192,710

REPEATING FUSE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 14, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORGJMLEM MON March 5, 1940. G. N. LEMMON 2,192,710

' REPEATING FUSE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 14, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORGJMLEMMO/V jMwiwM ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT:OFFICE nma'rmo ruse msna'ms George N. Lennon, Birmingham, Ala.Application December 14, 19:0, Serial No. uaszs 10 Claims- (01. zoo-12c)This invention relates to repeating fuse apparatus, particularly of thegeneral character described in my prior Patent No. 1,954,633, and thejoint patent issued to myself and Harry E.

Knowles, No. 1,954,634, on April 10, 1934.

The particular objects of my present invention are to provide apparatusof the character described which shall have an improved latching meansfor the fuse holder whereby when it is forced into service position thelatch will engage without danger of failing; to provide an improvedprotective means for the latches and for the fuse holder operatingmechanism whereby they will not be affected by snow and sleet; toprovide an improved assembly for actuating the fuse holders and causingthem to move without possibility of failure, to service position fromreserve position, and to move from service position to fuse rupturedposition; and to provide an improved go cooking and trigger releasemechanism for the fuse holder carriages.

In the drawings forming a part of this application,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved re- 5 peating fuse apparatuswith the lower part in section along the line I-I of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the release of the upper latch of a fuseholder upon rupture of a fuse;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of my improved ap paratus with some parts ofthe trippin mechanism omitted for the sake of clarity;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken along the line IVIV of Fig. 3,showing the fuse holder in fuse ruptured position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 3, showingone fuse holder in reserve position, and one in fuse ruptured position;

Fig. '6 is a perspective view taken from above and showing a part of thecocking and trigger release mechanism for the fuse holders removed fromthe housing;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken along the line V1I--V1I of Fi 3;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view showing a part of the trigger releasemechanism for a fuse holder;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail view taken along the line IXIX of Fig. 3,showing a part of a fuse 5o holder carriage with the latching means forthe fuse holder in section; and

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the lower casting, showing its preferredposition with respect to the horizontal when in service. 5 Referring tothe drawings, my improved apparatus comprises an upper casting ill towhich an electric line wire may be connected, as at H, and a lowercasting l2 having means I! for connecting a line wire thereto. Thecastings Ill and I! are connected respectively to insulators l3 and 3II, which latter are joined together, end to end, by means of a stud I3and nuts I] and i3. Straps I 3 and II also are connected to the stud Itby means of the nuts I! and I3, and are joined together by a bolt 23,and may serve as a means for 10 mounting the apparatus.

Electric current passes from the casting It to the casting II, oroppositely, through one of a plurality of fuses carried by fuse holders23, 23

and 23, only one of which is in service at a time, II as is wellunderstood. Each of the fuse holders 23, 23 and 26 comprises .a hollowtube 21 of insulating material through which is passed a fusibleconnector 23. On the upper end of each tube is a terminal 23, and on thelower end a I; terminal 3i, which terminals are secured in any propermanner to the tube 21.

The terminal 23 has a rearwardly extending portion 32 to which ispivotally connected a link 33. Connected to the other end of the link 33is ll a latch and contact member 33. The latch member 33 has a forwardlyextending portion 33 which, when the fusible member 23 is intact, isheld in place thereby, and rests on the upper end of the holder 26, asseen in Fig. 1. Carried by so the member 33 is a clamp 31 operated bythumb screw 33, and which is adapted to bear downwardly on the upper endof the fusible member 23, as shown in the drawings. The clamp 31 servesto hold the upper end of the fusible mem- 35 ber 23 in place, while thelatter holds the member 34 against movement relative to the fuse holder.

The casting II is formed with a plurality of hoods or recesses 39,corresponding to the num- 40 ber of fuses included in the assembly. Eachof the hoods 33 has pivoted at its front, at 33, a latch member 31 whichextends rearwardly beneath the hood, to be engaged by the latch member33 when the fuse holder 26 is in service position. The latch member llis normally pressed downwardly by a spring 42, and is prevented frommoving with the hood 33 downwardly too far by engagement of its heel l3forwardly of the pivot 43. when a fuse holder moves from reserve toservice position, the member 34 acts to compress the spring I! and movethe latch 4| out of the way and engage it after it passes. The forwardpivoting of the latch 3i, and the arrangement of the spring 42, areimportant in that they provide a a sure latching means for the fuseholders II, 14 and 24, when they are moved to service position. As willbe seen hereafter, the fuse holders move to service position veryrapidly, and unless the latch member 4| moves almost instantaneously toengage the latch member 34, the fuse holder may Jump out and fail toconnect.

Also carried by each of the castings I0 and extending downwardly througha slot in the hood 39 is a brush contact member 44 which, as may be seenfrom Fig. 1, engages the latch and contact member 84 when the fuseholder 25 is in service position. When the fusible member 28 isruptured, it allows the member 34 to tilt upwardly and rearwardly, asmay be seen in Fig. 2, so that the member 34 is no longer engaged by thelatch member 4| and the fuse holder 28 then drops out of serviceposition by gravity.

The terminal 29 is also formed with a forwardly extending portion havingan opening 41 into which may be inserted a suitable insulated tool forhandling the fuse holders when the apparatus is in service.

The construction of the lower casting l2 and the fuse holder operatingmechanism will now be described. The lower casting I2 is formed with acontinuous cover 45 upturned at its forward edge 48. With the apparatusmounted as shown in Fig. 10, with respect to the horizontal, it will beseen that any rain, snow or sleet which strikes the cover will bedeflected by the lower forward edge 48 and drain to the sides and endsand will not drip down into the operating mechanism housed within thelower casting. The casting i2 is divided into compartments by end walls49 and 5|, and partition walls 52 and 58. Mounted within each of thecompartments thus formed is a carriage 54. Each of the carriages 54 ismounted upon a shaft 55 which extends through the lower casting l2. Eachcarriage 54 is biased toward movement in a clockwise direction, asviewed in Figs. 1, 4 and 5, by means of a spiral spring 51 which has oneend secured, as may be seen in Figs. 5 and 7, to a lug 58 formed in thecasting l2, and the other end secured at 58 to the carriage 54.

Each of the carriages 54 is substantially U- shaped in construction andof a size to fit within its compartment in the casting l2. Each of thecarriage side walls, on the inner side, as seen in Fig. 9, is formedwith ridges 6| and 52, the latter forming a recess 63 into which ismounted a hinge member, or trunnion, on the fuse holder, as mayhereafter be seen.

The terminal 3| of each fuse holder is provided with a rearwardlyextending portion 54 carrying a lower trunnion adapted to be engagedwith the rib 52 in the recess 53, and an upper trunnion member 61adapted to engage with the rib 6| in the side wall of the carriage 54 toprevent the fuse holder from jumping out of position when it is beingmoved from reserve to service position and from service position to fuseruptured position. Also formed on the member 64 is a notch 65 adapted,when the fuse holder is in reserve position, to be engaged by a hook 69pivotally mounted at H in the carriage 54, as may be seen in Figs. 5 and9. The hook 59 is biased downwardly, as seen in Fig. 9, by a spring 12mounted in a suitable opening in the hook 89, and extending through anopening in the rib 62. At the rear of the hook 69 is a boss 13 adapted,when the fuse holder is in service positon, as seen in Fig. 1, to engagethe top of the casting l2 and disengage the hook from the notch 54,thereby permitting the fuse holder 25 to fall out of service positionwhen the fusible member 25 is ruptured. The hook member 5! is alsoprovided with a forward laterally extending ear 14, which as may be seenby reference to the fuse holder 24 in Fig. 3, when the carriage 54 isrotated counterclockwise beyond the reserve position shown in Figs. 3and 5, engages with a pin 16 in the side wall of each compartment, thuslifting the hook 59 out of the notch 68, and thus permits the fuseholder to swing down to fuse ruptured position and be removed andreplaced after being placed in reserve position.

The rearwardly extending member 54, as may be seen in Fig. 1, carries ascrew 'l'l for securing the lower end of the fusible member 25. It isalso provided with a suitable contact surface 18 which, when the fuseholder is in service position, is adapted to be engaged by a flexiblecontact II mounted in the casting I2. Also, the rearwardly extendingmember 54 carries a trip member 4| which is adapted to'engage with andrelease the carriage operating mechanism, to be described later.

Each of the carriages 54 is provided with a rearward latch engagingmember 52 which, when the carriage is moved to reserve position, engageswith a latch member which is pivotally mounted in each compartment. Thelatch member for the left hand carriage is numbered "a, that for theintermediate carriage 83b, and that for the right hand carriage "c. Thecarriages 54 may each be moved to reserve position against the force ofthe springs 51, by means of a handle 54 carrying a hook which may beengaged by a suitable tool to pull the carriage to reserve position.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 6, 7 and 8, I show the setting andtripping mechanism for the carriages 54 separate from the other parts.The trip member 53a for the left hand carriage 54, as seen in Fig. 6, ismounted upon a shaft 81 which extends from end to end through thecasting l2 and is secured to said shaft. Formed integrally with the tripmember 83a is a manually operable trigger 85 which extends downwardlybeneath the casting, as may be seen in Fig. 7. A lug formed in thecasting i2 limits the rearward movement of the trigger ll.

Mounted on the opposite end of the shaft 51, in the right handcompartment of the casting l 2, is a trip member 89, the construction ofwhich is shown in detail in Fig. 8. The trip member 89 is pivoted at 9|to an arm 92 and is limited in its clockwise rotation on the arm 92 bymeans of a stop pin 93. The arm 89 is biased toward the stop pin 33 andthe arm 92 is biased downwardly, as seen in Fig. 8, by means of a spring54 which engages with the arm 88 and the upper part of the casting II.The arm 89 is in the path of movement of the trip member it provided onthe lower end of the terminal II. The arrangement of the arm 89, justdescribed, permits the trip member II, when the fuse holder is beingmounted in the carriage, and moved to service position, to flex the arm89 counter-clockwise and pass.

When the fusible member 24 is ruptured, as seen in Fig. 2, and the fuseholder 28 swing downwardly about its pivot counter-clockwise by gravity,the trip member ll then engages the arm 89, but as the arm 59 can notrotate in a clockwise direction relative to the arm 92, due to the stoppin 93, it rotates the shaft 81. It will thus be seen that if the fuseholder 28, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, starts to move counter-clockwise,

it will release the carriage 88 which is held by the stop member 83a onthe opposite end of the shaft 81, which would be the left hand carriage.as seen in Fig. 3. I

The stop member 880 for the right hand carriage is formed upon a casting88 which is mounted for rotation upon a shaft 81 mounted in theintermediate partition walls of the casting l2. Formed integrally withthe casting 88 and stop member 830 is a manual trip trigger 8i and anarm 88, carrying a trip arm 88, similar to that already described. Thecasting 88 extends through the intermediate partition wall I8 so thatits associated arm 88 is in the path of movement of the trip member 8|carried by the fuse holder 24.

Thus, movement of the fuse holder 2| in a counter-clockwise directionfrom service position causes the trip member 8| to engage with the arm89 and release the right hand carriage II, as seen in Fig. 3. The stopmember 831) for the intermediate carriage 5|, carrying the fuse holder24, is formed upon a casting 88, likewise mounted upon the shaft 81, andformed integral with the stop member 83 for the intermediate carriage.The casting 88 likewise has an arm III, to which is pivoted a trip arm88, and has formed integrally with the casting a manually operatedtrigger I02. The casting 88 extends through the partition wall 52 sothat its arm 88 is in the path of movement of the trip member 8| carriedby the fuse holder 23. Thus, when the fuse holder 23 moves from serviceto fuse ruptured position, the trip member 8| engages with the arm 88 ofthe casting 98 and moves the stop 83b out of the path of the latch 82 ofthe intermediate carriage, thereby permitting the intermediate carriageto move the fuse holder 24 to service position.

The operation of my improved apparatus will now be described. Assume allof the fuse holders 28, 28 and 26 removed from the apparatus forre-fusing. The fusible members 28 are put in place and clamped by meansof the screws 88 and 11, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The hooks86 on the handles 84 of the carriages 54, are next engaged, using asuitable insulated tool therefor, to pull the handles down against theforce of the springs 51, until the latch engaging member 82 of eachcarriage engages with its associated stop member 83a, 83b, or 830. Thecarriages are then in reserve positions The fuse holders 23, 24 and 28may now be mounted in place in the carriages 54. This is done byentering the trunnion 68 of the lower terminal 3| of each fuse holder,in the recess 83 formed by the ribs 82 in the side walls of eachcarriage. It will be observed that the carriage must be pulled down toreserve position and cooked before the fuse holder can be mounted'asjust described. Otherwise, it would engage the flexible contact member18 before the trunnions could enter the recess 83.

As so far described, the fuse holders are assumed all to be in theposition of the fuse holder 23 in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Each of thefuse holders is next rotated about its trunnion 88 as an axis, until thehook 88 engages with the notch 58 on the terminal 3|, as seen in Fig. 5.Each of the fuse holders is then in reserve position, ready to be thrownto service position by the force of its associated spring 51. manuallyoperated triggers, for example, trigger 88, is next pulled, whichreleases the carriage for fuse holder 23 and causes it to move toservice One of the position. Just before it reaches service position,thebossliofthe hook llstrikesthe upper-part of the casting l2 andreleases the hook, so that the fuse holder is carried to its finallatched position, as seen in Fig. 1, by its own momentum.

Assuming now that the fusible member 28 of the holder in serviceposition, is ruptured. The fuse holder starts to swing by gravity andthe member 84 tilts rearwardly to disengage from the latch ll, as'seenin Fig. 2. Inasmuch as the hook I8 is disengaged from the notch 88, thefuse holder is free to fall down to the position of the fuse holder 28in Fig. 3. As it moves downwardly, the trip member 8| engages the arm 88in the left hand compartment, as seen in Fig. 3, 1

causing the stop member 88b of the intermediate carriage to move out ofengagement with the latch engaging member 82, thus releasing theintermediate carriage and allowing the fuse holder :4 to be moved toservice position, as just described.

When the fuse in fuse holder 28 is ruptured, it drops out of place and,striking the arm 88 in the intermediate compartment, moves the stopmember 830 out of engagement withthe latch engaging member 82 in theright hand compartment, causing the fuse holder 28 to move to serviceposition. When the fuse in fuse holder 28 is ruptured, all the fuseholders must be again refused and their carriages set to reserveposition before the apparatus can again operate. It is, of course,understood that the apparatus will be inspected at regular intervals andruptured fuses replaced so that there will be continuity of service,unless there is a sustained fault which causes a rupture of all threefuses at one time.

In describing the sequence of operation of the fuse holders I havestated, by way of illustration, that the fuse holder 23 is caused to beoperated first, followed by the fuse holders 28 and 28. will be obviousfrom the preceding description that any one of the three fuses may beput in service position first and it will be followed in its operationby the other two.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In repeating fuse apparatus of the character described, a supportinginsulator, a metallic base member attached to the said insulator, aplurality of tubular fuse holders movably mounted on the under side ofthe said base member, and operating mechanism for moving the fuseholders, the said base member constituting a protecting cover over allthe said operating mechanism.

2. An expulsion-tube fuse device which includes two gap-spaced insulatedterminals, a tube spanning the gap, and latch means upon one of saidterminals to retain the tube in gap-spanning position, the said latchmeans comprising a stationary protecting cover and a movable memberpivotaily mounted beneath the cover and with its tube-retaining portionextending inwardly from its pivotal mounting.

3. In apparatus of the character described, two rigid spaced insulatedterminals one above the other, a fuse holder pivotally mounted in thelower terminal, spring actuated trigger release means for moving thefuse holder into circuit closing position with the upper terminal, andlatch means carried by the upper terminal for engaging and holding thefuse holder in circuit closing position comprising a spring pressedpivoted latch inclined to the path of movement of the fuse holder, withits pivot in advance of its engaging portion relative to the fuse holderwhen moving to service position.

4. In apparatus of the character described, a base casting, a cover forthe casting which in service is inclined to the horizontal, an upwardlyturned lip on the lower edge of the casting, end walls for the casting,a fuse holder operating mechanism mounted in the casting entirelybeneath the cover, and a fuse holder pivotally mounted in the carriageand swung upwardly to service position from the lower open side of thebase casting.

5. In a repeating fuse apparatus, a base associated with a mountingbracket, a series of independent. spring pressed fuse holders, a latchhousing mounted rigid with the base, and a series of spring responsivelatches mounted under the housing with their free ends each disposed inthe path of a fuse holder and in the direction of its movement toservice position.

6. In a repeating fuse apparatus, a base associated with a mountingbracket, a series of independent spring pressed fuse holders, a latchhousing mounted rigid with the base, the housing being designed toprotect the latch means from access of water, and a series of springactuated latches mounted under the housing with their free ends eachdisposed in the path of a fuse holder and in the direction of itsmovement to service position.

7. In a repeating fuse apparatus, a base associated with a mountingbracket, a series of independent spring pressed fuse holders, a latchmeans for holding said fuse holders in service position, said base beingdesigned and adapted to overhang and shed water away from the springmounted ends of said fuse holders, and a series of spring responsivelatches mounted under the housing with their free ends each disposed inthe path of a fuse holder and in the direction of its movement toservice position.

8. In repeating fuse apparatus, two rigid spaced insulated terminals oneabove the other, a plurality of fuse holders pivotally mounted on thelower terminal, spring actuated trigger release means for moving thefuse holders successively into circuit closing pomtion with the upperterminal, and latch means carried by the upper terminal for engaging andholding the fuse holders in circuit closing position comprising springpressed pivoted latches inclined to the path of movement of the fuseholders, with their pivots in advance of their engaging portionsrelative to a fuse holder moving to service position.

9. In repeating fuse apparatus, an upper rigid terminal casting, aplurality of fuse holders, said upper terminal casting having coveredrecesses therein for receiving the upper ends of said fuse holders,spring pressed latches located in said recesses for engaging the fuseholders, a lower rigid terminal casting, a cover over the lower casting,a plurality of spring actuated fuse holder carriages mounted foroperation in the lower casting beneath the cover, means for pivotallymounting the fuse holders in said carriages, and means for successivelyoperating the carriages to swing the fuse holder upwards and enti le thelatches.

10. In a repeating fuse apparatus, a base casting, aplurality of springactuated carriages mounted for angular movement in said casting, cookingand trigger release mechanism for each of said carriages, a fuse holderdetachably mounted in each of said carriages, means on each fuse holderto actuate the trigger release of another carriage, an upper rigidcasting having a plurality of recesses therein for receiving the upperends of the fuse holders, and pivoted spring pressed latches disposed ineach of said receases to engage and retain the fuse carriers when theyare moved to service position, the pivots for said latches being inadvance of the engaging means relative to the path of movement of thefuse holders.

ing the upper ends of the fuse holders, and pivoted spring pressed latchmeans disposed in each of said recesses to engage and retain the fusecarriers when they are moved to service position.

12. In repeating fuse apparatus of the character described, a basecasting, a cover for the casting which in service is inclined to thehorizontal, an upwardly turned lip on the lower edge of the casting, endwalls for the casting, a plurality of fuse holder operating mechanismsmounted in the casting entirely beneath the cover, and a plurality offuse holders pivotally mounted in the mechanisms to swing upwardly toservice position from the lower open side of the base casting.

13. In repeating fuse apparatus of the characterv described, a basecasting, a cover for the casting which in service is inclined to thehorizontal, an upwardly turned lip on the lower edge of the casting, endwalls for the casting, a plurality of fuse holding operating carriagesmounted in the casting beneath the cover, a plurality of fuse holderspivotally mounted in the carriages to to seirvice position from the ofthe base casting, an upper casting insulated from the base casting, aplurality of covered recesses in the upper casting in the paths ofmovement of the fuse holders when position, latch engaging means on theupper ends of the fuse holders, and pivoted latches in the recesses forengaging the latch engaging means, the pivots for said latches beingdisposed forwardly thereof with respect to the paths of movement of thefuse holders.

14. In combination, two gap-spaced insulated bases, a plurality oftubular fuse holders movably mounted upon the first 'of said bases andmovable into and out of contact with the second of said bases, a singlecover for the said first base independent of the said second base,together with operating mechanism for the said fuse holders mountedwholly beneath the said cover upon the said first base.

15. In combination, in electrical fuse apparatus, two gap-spacedinsulated terminals, an insulating tubular fuse container mounted on oneof said terminals and movable into circuit-closing position across thesaid gap, automatic closing means to move the container from cpen-cir- 7cuit towards closed-circuit position, together with means to discontinuethe control of the said clos ing. means over the said container, by thetime the said container has reached fully closed position.

16. In combination, in electrical fuse apparatus, two gap-spacedinsulated terminals, an insulating tubular fuse container mounted on oneof said terminals and movable into circuit-closing position across thesaid gap, spring-actuated means to initiate the motion of the containerfrom open-circuit to closed-circuit position. and means to disconnectthe spring actuated means before the container reaches closed-circuitposition whereby the said motion is completed solely by the momentum ofthe said container.

GEORGE N. LEMMON.

